Before Arkansas Tech began Gulf South Conference play, men's basketball coach Robert Thompson said he believed the parity in the West Division would set the stage for a wild race.

The Wonder Boys' league opener solidified Thompson's statement to the fullest as Tech needed double overtime to take a 96-91 victory over Arkansas-Monticello at Tucker Coliseum.

"Now you know why it's very important to win all of our home conference games," Thompson said. "You better believe that it's going to be tough when we go to Monticello (Feb. 3). We'll have to show up ready to play every night, and we're hoping that good things will happen because of this."

Overtime games are nothing new to the Wonder Boys (5-3, 1-0) this season, especially at home. Tech has already needed extra time to settle things in three games at Tucker Coliseum this season - not including the double-overtime exhibition showdown against the Arkansas Angels.

But that hasn't been a bad thing. The Wonder Boys have won all three overtime games at home, defeating Southwestern Oklahoma and Lincoln Memorial before their win Monday over UAM.

"The funny thing is that, since I've been here, we've played about 10 or so games that have gone into either overtime or double overtime," Thompson said. "I don't know if our players are trying to drive me crazy or cause me to pull out my hair. But the fact that they've been there before showed because their character showed up a bunch in this game."

The Wonder Boys overcame a horrendous start, trailing by an 18-2 margin after seven minutes of play, and took a 36-34 halftime lead on Jason Williams' three-pointer. UAM (5-7, 0-1) then led by nine points on three occasions in the second half before Tech tied the game at 72-72 on Williams' free throw with 1:57 left in regulation.

"We just weren't making our shots early in the game, and the same thing happened when we played (Friday) at Drury," Thompson said. "It's not that we were taking bad shots, but a matter of not getting our shots to fall. I don't remember use taking many bad shots, but if we get them to fall, then we could have won by 25 points.

"But our guys showed a lot of character by coming back. They just stepped things up and kept playing harder and harder, and our defensive effort what was carried us until we get a few shots down the stretch."

Those shots included a tough driving layup by Steven Willis that tied the game at 74-all with a minute left in regulation. When Idrion Reed's three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining put UAM ahead 77-74, Dustin Smith answered by hitting a trey with 15.7 seconds left to force overtime.

Willis hit a three-pointer to open the scoring in the first extra period, but Tech soon found itself trailing by three points and in need of another shot beyond the arc. Jason Bradley, who was seeing his first taste of GSC play since the 1999-2000 season, did the honors by hitting a three-pointer, forcing an 86-86 tie with 47.1 seconds.

Bradley tried to put the game away in the first overtime, but his last-second shot from inside the lane would not fall. The senior from Mineral Springs, however, atoned that by hitting the go-ahead bucket in the second overtime and adding two free throws to give Tech a 93-89 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

It was Bradley's sacrifice of personal benefits, however, that may have saved the Wonder Boys in the closing moments. With Tech leading 94-91 with 11.2 seconds left, Bradley took Smith's missed free throw and tipped it back to Smith instead of trying to pull down a rebound that would have given him a double-double in the game.

"I thought we were in control and had the game won in the first overtime," Thompson said. "J.B. hits that shot 8 out of 10 times, but this time it didn't go in. But Jason was all over the place, getting loose ball and doing the things vital to the team. He stepped up and played like a senior should."

The move allowed Tech to run time off the clock and forced UAM to foul. The Weevils then fouled Willis, who hit two free throws to clinch the win with 4.8 seconds left.

The Wonder Boys finished the game hitting a season-high 12 three-point shots, with Smith connecting four times outside the arc while Willis and Williams each had three. Tech, however, changed its philosophy in the second overtime and opted for an inside attack.

That resulted in Tim Black's alley-oop dunk off a perfect pass from Smith to give Tech an 89-88 lead. After Billy McDaniel's free throw tied the game at 89-89 with 3:21 left, Bradley then drove the baseline for his go-ahead bucket.

"We knew that we would have to start scoring inside in order to win," Thompson said. "Earlier, we had used our three-point shooters to help spread UAM's zone defense out. We have some good shooters, and we were hoping the shots would go in."

Another key to Tech's victory was the Wonder Boys' defensive plans against Reed in the overtime periods. The Boll Weevils' guard, who had 41 points in regulation, was held to two points in each of the extra periods.

"We made up our minds that we weren't going to let Reed touch the ball once UAM moved into frontcourt," Thompson said. "I thought Dustin Smith deserves a lot of credit for that. I thought he did a great defensive job on Reed during in the overtime periods."

Tech, however, won't get to savor the victory long. The Wonder Boys return to action Thursday night when Southern Arkansas comes to Tucker Coliseum, and Thompson wouldn't mind having a large, boisterous crowd for the contest.

"I've told our guys that we just need to take things one game at a time," he said. "I want them to leave everything on the floor in each game. I want this to be special for our seniors."